2019 Resolution: Helping ‘Overwhelmed’ Vegans

Making a New Year’s resolution is not mandatory, but if you’re going to make one it’s best to set a goal you can actually attain. Last year, for instance, I gave up spinach, and that went exceptionally well.

So well, in fact, I’ve decided to set my 2019 goal a little higher. I’ve decided to join Frank Mitloehner in his quest to help educate Beyoncé, Jay-Z, and Los Angeles city councilman Paul Koretz. The year-long lesson will be about cows and the environment. The syllabus is all Mitloehner’s, of course, since he’s the distinguished professor and air quality extension specialist in the department of animal science at the University of California-Davis.

You can join us, too, as Mitloehner made his intention public on Twitter in a Dec 23, post. “My resolution for 2019 is to help set the record straight on livestock GHG so that those who are obviously overwhelmed with the topic can go back to reporting issues they might understand.”

Mitloehner didn’t mention those overwhelmed by name, so I guess he left that chore to me. First on my list is the aforementioned city councilman Paul Koretz, now in his 10th year serving in that capacity. His name simmered to the top of the vegan superhero list last fall when he proposed a mandate requiring all large-scale entertainment venues in Los Angeles to offer a minimum of one vegan protein menu option to customers.

My resolution for 2019 is to help set the records straight on livestock GHG so that those who are obviously overwhelmed with the topic can go back to reporting issues they might understand. https://t.co/5lx0V14AI3

Let that sink in for a moment. Koretz proposed a regulation dictating menu items to some private businesses. That’s government over-reach on steroids. Koretz’ justification was that more vegan menu items would reduce animal protein consumption, and thus help save the planet.

Alas, Koretz’ idea is but a spark in the desert compared to the heat generated by Beyoncé and Jay-Z when they called on their followers (lemmings?) to adopt a plant-based diet.

"The benefits of a single plant-based meal a day can have such a profound impact on our health and the environment,” Beyoncé and Jay-Z said in a statement. “We want to challenge you as we challenge ourselves to move towards a more plant-based lifestyle and acknowledge you for standing up for your health and the health of the planet.”

I could have resolved not to spend a dime on anything Beyoncé or Jay-Z in 2019, but that would have been a small challenge since I much prefer spinach to their tunes. Yet, I realize my demographic (old, white, Ernest Tubbs fans) are not exactly Beyoncé and Jay-Z’ target. Their target demographic is found on social media, where Beyoncé has 15 million Twitter followers and 122 million Instagram followers, while Jay-Z has 3 million Twitter followers.

In other words, Mitloehner has a big task ahead of him in 2019. The “cows-are-bad-for-the-environment” propaganda is growing, and every celebrity utterance of such nonsense makes it harder to combat with science. But there is plenty of evidence cows are not the environmental boogeyman, we just have to keep pointing to the science-based facts.

Yep, Mitlohener’s New Year’s resolution will be difficult as the “overwhelmed” science-deniers have formed a very long line waiting to be science-shamed. Follow us both on Twitter as Mitloehner (@GHGGuru) does the heavy-lifting and I (@Greg_Drovers) point out the shaming.